Microstructural and Mechanical Characterization of Ledeburitic AISI D2 Cold-Work Tool Steel in Semisolid Zones via Direct Partial Remelting Process

The success of the thixoforming process largely depends on the created microstructure, which must be globular in the liquid phase. The solid–liquid structural changes that occur on as-annealed D2 tool steel when it is subjected to the so-called DPRM are described in this work (direct partial remelting method). The paper discusses phase changes and how carbide dissolution affects grain boundary liquation and grain spheroidization. Equiaxed grains with undissolved carbide particles have been found in the microstructural analysis at 1250 °C; however, the carbides gradually disappear as the temperature rises. Additionally, the equiaxed grains were transformed to a globular structure, which improves the shape factor and grain size for the thixoforming process. For AISI D2 thixoforming, which produced grains with a diameter of 50 μm and a shape factor of 1.18, temperatures of 1300 °C and a holding period of 5 min were the optimum parameters. The outcomes also showed that the mechanical properties of the AISI D2 were greatly enhanced after using direct partial remelting, where hardness was increased from 220 Hv to 350 Hv and tensile strength from 791 MPa to 961 MPa.